June 28, 2010 4:00 AM PDT
This artist's rendering of the Gerald R. Ford shows some of the new features of the first-of-its-class aircraft carrier.
Photo by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding
Caption by Daniel Terdiman
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Equipment and Logistics | HMS Illustrious returns to Portsmouth after upgrade
Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Equipment and Logistics | HMS Illustrious returns to Portsmouth after upgrade
Defence
News Article
HMS Illustrious returns to Portsmouth after upgrade
An Equipment and Logistics news article
8 Jul 11
Helicopter and commando carrier HMS Illustrious returned to her Portsmouth home yesterday after completing a £40m maintenance and upgrade programme in Scotland.
HMS Illustrious returns to Portsmouth Naval Base
[Picture: LA(Phot) Dave Gallagher, Crown Copyright/MOD 2011]
The 22,000-tonne ship, affectionately known as 'Lusty', was in the Rosyth dockyard in Fife for 16 months where she underwent modifications to turn her into a helicopter and commando carrier capable of carrying a force of up to 20 helicopters and 600 fully kitted-out personnel.
Since leaving Rosyth on 18 June 2011, Illustrious has been undergoing sea trials off the UK coast. She will carry out further tests off the south coast before returning to the Royal Navy fleet at the end of this month.
The ship was greeted by about 300 families of the ship's company on her arrival at the base.
Her Commanding Officer, Captain Jerry Kyd, said:
"It is a great honour and tremendously exciting to bring this famous carrier, HMS Illustrious, back to her home port of Portsmouth.
"My magnificent crew have worked for many months away from family and friends, some for 18 months, and our return today is testament to their characteristic professionalism and commitment.
"The ship was fortunate to have had an excellent engineering refit with Babcock in Rosyth, and, yet again, our return to Portsmouth, on time and on budget, shows how the Royal Navy and British industry can work so successfully together to a common purpose.
"We formally rejoin the fleet at the end of this month, and I know I speak for all the men and women in Lusty when I say that we are looking forward greatly to meeting whatever challenges the Government sets us in the coming years."
HMS Illustrious has been modified to turn her into a helicopter and commando carrier
[Picture: LA(Phot) Dave Gallagher, Crown Copyright/MOD 2011]
Lusty's workout since leaving Scotland included full power trials which have tested the engines and propulsion. Weapons systems have been test-fired, and communications, radars and computer systems have all been put through their paces.
She also welcomed helicopters of the Fleet Air Arm back to the flight deck, testing the ship's aircraft facilities.
HMS Illustrious has also started on the comprehensive training package necessary for the 600 sailors on board.
Exercises to test the whole crew's reactions to emergencies such as fires and floods have been a vital part of the trials period that will now intensify as the ship prepares for operational sea training and any possible tasking in the future.
The refit work carried out by a partnership of Babcock Marine, the ship's company, MOD and BAE Systems included:
- applying 540,000 litres of paint to the ship, including a fuel efficient outer hull coating that will save tonnes of fuel and CO2 emissions over her remaining life
- other improvements that lower the ship's environmental impact, including reverse osmosis fresh water-making systems
- installation of a new computer and communications system and a defensive anti-torpedo system
- improvements to the living conditions for the crew and any embarked troops.
HMS Illustrious is the second of three Invincible Class light aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious.
She will assume a helicopter and commando carrier role while HMS Ocean undergoes a planned refit, which is due for completion by 2014. Illustrious will then be withdrawn from service.
Ministry of Defence | Defence News | History and Honour | Restoration work begins on HMS Victory
Ministry of Defence | Defence News | History and Honour | Restoration work begins on HMS Victory
Defence
News Article
Restoration work begins on HMS Victory
A History and Honour news article
11 Jul 11
Admiral Nelson's famous flagship is to be 'dismasted' for the first time since the Second World War as HMS Victory undergoes its most comprehensive overhaul for 200 years.
The Royal Navy's oldest commissioned vessel, Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, with one of the fleet's latest Type 45 destroyers, HMS Dauntless, in the background (stock image)
[Picture: Leading Airman (Photographer) Keith Morgan, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Those involved with the Herculean task say it's the biggest rebuild carried out on the ship of the line - today a living tribute to Nelson and his age enjoyed by upwards of 400,000 visitors annually - since she was repaired after the battering she took at the Battle of Trafalgar and the subsequent storm in 1805.
The upper sections of all three masts, the bowsprit, booms, yards and spars, 768 wooden blocks - some of them 100 years old - and 26 miles (42km) of rigging (enough to stretch from Portsmouth to Littlehampton) will be carefully removed by experts, and catalogued and documented, assisting future restorers of Victory when she needs work doing again.
The last time the legendary ship was minus her masts was in 1944. Victory received damage to her hull during a Luftwaffe bombing raid on the dockyard in 1941, and the masts were removed to prevent further damage in any subsequent raids.
HMS Victory in 1944, the last time the ship was seen without her top masts
[Picture: Portsmouth Historic Dockyard]
Fortunately, HMS Victory survived the war and is still a serving Royal Navy vessel. The oldest ship still in commission with any navy in the world, she acts as the flagship of the Second Sea Lord, has a Royal Navy ship's company and frequently hosts official events from ceremonies to dinners.
A ten-year restoration programme is planned for the ship, with an interactive exhibition soon opening in the neighbouring National Museum of the Royal Navy showing how Victory was built in Chatham 250 years ago, how she has been cared for since during her active career, and, more recently, as one of the nation's most treasured historical icons.
Professor Dominic Tweddle, Director General of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, said:
"Preserving a wooden warship is a battle - a battle against nature, and, just as epic, in its way, as the Battle of Trafalgar. To be able to witness how that battle is fought will be a big draw for visitors.
HMS Victory fires a broadside (stock image)
[Picture: Leading Airman (Photographer) Terry Boughton, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
"Both Victory and the museum will remain open to the public throughout the restoration work."
Most of the highly-skilled restoration work will be carried out by master shipwrights and other specialists from BAE Systems who are also currently working on the Royal Navy's supercarrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at Portsmouth Naval Base.
As well as possessing the cutting-edge skills required to build the 65,000-tonne supercarriers, the workers also maintain the traditional wooden shipbuilding skills required to look after Nelson's flagship.
They hope to reuse as many wooden blocks in the rigging as possible during the restoration, or if not, recycle them.
Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Equipment and Logistics | HMS Diamond enters service
Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Equipment and Logistics | HMS Diamond enters service
Defence
News Article
HMS Diamond enters service
An Equipment and Logistics news article
12 Jul 11
Following commissioning in May this year, HMS Diamond, one of the Royal Navy's new Type 45 advanced air defence destroyers, has entered service following extensive sea trials, the MOD announced today.
HMS Diamond (stock image)
[Picture: LA(Phot) Kyle Heller, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
The vessel's capability is based around the sophisticated Sea Viper missile defence system, which is capable of tracking and defending against multiple supersonic targets simultaneously, backed by long and short range radar and missile systems that can operate over distances in excess of 400km.
She can embark 60 troops and their equipment, supported by a modern medical facility that can deliver a surgical capability. She could also carry up to 700 people to support a civilian evacuation.
Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, Peter Luff, said:
"I'm delighted to welcome the latest in this superb class of warship into the fleet, in what is another significant milestone in this hugely important project.
"These highly capable Type 45 destroyers will form an integral part of Future Force 2020 and will allow the Royal Navy to meet the demands placed on them."
The 7,000-tonne warship, launched on the Clyde in 2007, is one of six new Type 45 destroyers being built, the largest and most powerful ships of their kind ever ordered for the Royal Navy.
HMS Diamond (stock image)
[Picture: LA(Phot) Kyle Heller, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Commander Ian Clarke, HMS Diamond's Commanding Officer, said:
"This marks HMS Diamond's formal transition to operations just nine months since leaving the builder's yard.
"The ship's company is rightly pleased to have reached this milestone and is now focused firmly on the forthcoming period of intense combat training in preparation for our first deployment.
"Itching to get onto a more operational footing, HMS Diamond will soon be at immediate notice to respond to world events and bring influence wherever it is needed."
With HMS Daring and HMS Dauntless already in service, and the other ships at various stages of completion, the handover of HMS Diamond represents the halfway point in this key naval equipment programme.
The ship will now undertake training in preparation for her first operational deployment in a few months' time.
All the Type 45s will be based in Portsmouth. The first, HMS Daring, was commissioned in July 2009, followed by HMS Dauntless in June last year.
The fourth, Dragon, is due to arrive in Portsmouth for the first time in September 2011. All six are scheduled to be in service by the middle of the decade.
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